Altered
by ice shredder
Summary: Emerald couldn't help but shiver, hoping Merc wouldn't sense it, cradling him close as he clutched his 'broken' shin. But it was almost over. And then they could finally drop this stupid charade. Second in the Gemcutter collection. T for safety. Spoilers for 3x06 and 3x07. Enjoy!


**A/N: Welp, here we go with another Gemcutter one-shot folks. :) I like the way that ship name sounds, sharp and quick just like Merc and Em are, lol. Anyway, this'll be the second in a mini series that'll be inspired by 'eight-of-pentacles' wonderful headcannons over on tumblr just to give credit where the original ideas came from.**

 **As always, enjoy and review guys! :)**

 **Disclaimer: don't own anything.**

 **Spoilers for the contoversial ending to 3x06 and a bit of 3x07**

 **Summary: Emerald couldn't help but shiver, hoping Merc wouldn't sense it, cradling him close as he clutched his 'broken' shin. But it was almost over. And then they could finally drop this stupid charade.**

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Emerald rubbed sweaty palms over her leather chaps in an attempt to calm her nerves. She'd chosen her spot carefully, a VIP seat close to the stage where she could make a quick entrance after working her magic. _Why am I acting like this is my first time casting my Semblance? This is retarded. Get a grip Sustrai or Cinder's gonna get angry if you screw this up._

 _ **Probably cause ya might have a thing for the butcher-**_

"Oh hell no," she hissed shaking her short mint hair trying to clear the rogue thought from her mind. The next few minutes were critical to the final stages of the plan and she couldn't be derailed by that insistent little voice betraying her innermost feelings.

 _ **Don't lie to yourself girl. Admit it. You**_ _ **enjoyed**_ _ **it when he took ya against the wall out in the open-**_

"Shut _up!_ " Emerald ground out as a traitorous curl of a sweet ache between her thighs made her want to bash her head against the nearest solid surface. _Damn Merc and his talented fingers. And mouth. And...ugh GOD. STOP it Emerald. I am so not catching feelings for him. Nope. Not at all-_

 _"And now the moment you've all been waiting for! The one on one finals!"_

She winced at the pompous tone of the fatty professor, thanking dust he couldn't ramble when announcing. It helped banish the sensual voice to a dim region of her mind. Which was good. She needed absolute focus if she was going to play her role to the end.

 _"Barty why don't you explain the rules?"_

 _"Ah, it's quite simple Peter."_ Bartholomew Oobleck's hyperactive voice grated on Emerald's patience as she waited for the first rigged match. _"Instead of a bracket system each round of the finals will be determined immediately before the match takes place."_

Emerald barely suppressed a snigger at that remark. _Except it isn't you fools._

She watched along with the rest of the unsuspecting world as the chooser spun the finalists photos in a whirring blur, not batting an eye as Merc and the bimbo's pictures were revealed to deafening cheers.

The thief's breathing was even and calm as she watched her partner raise his hands, taking slow sliding steps towards Yang. Her lips pressed into a thin line, wishing the match was already over. Whether it was sparring practice or in the classroom, the bimbo's cocky attitude rubbed Emerald the wrong way. Granted, Mercury was a smug, self-confident prick but he had legitimate reasons. She truly hated this blonde bitch and her nosy kid sister with a fiery passion, but the thief forced herself to remain seated as they squared up waiting for Port's signal.

 _"3...2...1...FIGHT!"_

It never failed to mesmerize Emerald whenever she watched her partner fight. His movements were quick, fluid and brutal all at once. In a world dominated by high-tech multipurpose weaponry, his kicking style was unique using no more than a pair of ultra-durable prosthetics and wind dust.

Now they needed to stand up under the bimbo's fiery barrage for a few minutes. But she was confident the butcher could handle it.

The match was fairly even with both sides giving as well as they got. She rolled her eyes at Yang throwing aura-assisted punches at Merc halfway across the stage. Smirked when he expertly dodged them, almost seemed like he was gliding around the grey tiles.

 _That's it Merc. Lull the bitch into a false sense of security. Make her think she's invincible._

Then she'd waste no time dropping the hammer on the party.

Suddenly the blonde bruiser managed to get under her partner's guard and delivered a powerful body shot to his torso. She winced as he hit the floor then somersaulted to get away from the fiery barrage of aura rounds-

Right to the edge of the stage where he cracked his back on the edge and _fell-_

 _Merc! Do something!_ Emerald wanted to shout as cocoa-colored hands clenched her armrests in a death grip-

Only to exhale in relief when he fired Quicksilver at the floor to propel himself back into the fight, barely escaping a ringout.

That's when he started to pick up his feet and the pace. Rather quickly. And it was also her visual clue that the end was near.

Emerald couldn't help but feel a rush of satisfaction as Mercury put the bimbo on the defensive much like he did Nikos in their sparring round.

One cyclone aura drainer later and the bimbo was down for the count. Emerald quickly glanced at the aura board and saw she was at 16. A single point above a knockout. _Not yet. Wait for it._ She watched Merc rise to his feet, all smug confidence as he turned his back on his opponent brushing his shoulder free of imaginary dirt, the crowd cheering and whistling at the performance.

A pillar of flame burst high into the air, dispersing the draining cloud of liquid gas with the force of a volcanic eruption. Emerald bit her lip as the little Sun Dragon of RWBY charged her partner, eyes burning red with wrath and proceeded to beat him into the ground breaking his aura before the buzzer went off.

Mercury rolled till he was on his hands and knees, panting from the beatdown. Emerald gritted her teeth anger coursing through her veins as the bimbo fistpumped her so-called victory that Merc _allowed_ her to win.

 _"What a way to kick off the finals!"_ Port enthused as the stage lowered and the sold-out crowd went nuts.

She took a deep breath. Saw Yang walk by Mercury telling him _better luck next time_ and cast her illusion.

 _Sorry Merc._

"There's not gonna _be_ a next time, Blondie."

Her illusion threw a flying kick at the bimbo's face. Just as she expected Yang reared back her fist and delivered a bone-shattering punch, amplified by a Dust round from her gauntlet.

Merc cried out and fell to the ground.

She hopped the barrier and scurried to mount the stage enveloped in a tidal wave of intense booing, the emotional negativity bomb detonating just as planned. Her head was beginning to pound but she pushed it away. There were medics to fool. _All I need is to make it look like she shattered his leg. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it's gotta pass muster or we're screwed._

"Ugh! My leg...my leg!"

"That's what you get you little-huh?"

"Yang Xiao Long! Stand down!" An officer barked.

"What?" Stunned the blonde's lilac orbs darted from face to face trying to make sense of a rapidly confusing situation. _"Why?!"_

"Mercury!" Emerald hurried over to attend to the kicker, who promptly fell into playing the wronged victim of an unprovoked attack.

"Why'd she do that?! Why'd she attack me?!" Even though it was an act Emerald couldn't help but shiver, hoping Merc wouldn't sense it as she cradled him close as he clutched his 'broken' shin. This felt way too real for her liking. But it was almost over. And then they could finally drop this stupid charade.

At the same time, the thief barely suppressed a smirk at his performance, taking no small amount of personal pleasure as she saw the bimbo's taunting stop abruptly when Atlesian shock troops surrounded her, laser guns drawn and ready to fire.

As the monitors replayed the true event-Emerald glared at the bruiser letting utter contempt and hatred of the blonde fill her crimson orbs.

Watched in secret pleasure as the girl-who upon seeing she attacked an 'innocent' student after the match in an unprovoked, impulsive fit of poor sportsmanship-grew visibly terrified as the implications of her actions began to sink in.

 _Drink your medicine bitch,_ she thought as she waited for the medics to arrive. _Whatever happens to you now, ya got nobody but your nosy kid sister to thank. Think of this as a receipt for compromising our Mountain Glenn base and the breach downtown._

"Please somebody help him!" She cried out, thanking dust Merc's robotic legs were tough. Finally the medics arrived with the stretcher. The mint-haired girl frantically made eye contact with the pair, feeling her temples throb with the effect of reaching her practical limit with her Semblance. She'd have to work on that. "Can you do something?" _Please work, please work, please work-_

"We need to get this boy to a hospital." One of them said. "Grab a blanket."

She released her hold as they loaded Merc onto the white fabric running alongside as they rushed to the arena exit. The crowd continued to boo, the sound so loud she could hear it through the corridor.

"Here, we got an ambulance ready to go."

Emerald could not have been more happy to hear her mentor's silky voice at that precise moment.

The second the airship's door hissed closed after the medics laid Merc down on the table for transport, she was finally able to take a proper breath.

It was almost time to drop their masks and stop playing nice.

War was coming.

She just hoped they would make it out of Vale alive when the storm hit.

 **-end**


End file.
